


Grotto

by steviemarie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: and a niece, but has a sister, elf!hitch, elf!marlo, modern!AU, reader has no pronouns, santa!pixis, who has a stupid nickname cuz i didn't name her so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:02:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5519708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steviemarie/pseuds/steviemarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A visit to Santa with your niece uncovers a goofy secret Marco's been keeping</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grotto

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays xox

With a groan, you haul yourself up from your position sprawled out on your bed to look at the clock and check the time, seeing that not a lot has gone past you let out a grunt and allow yourself to drop back down onto the bed. You're bored. So bored. Hella bored. Infact, so ridiculously and utterly bored that you're now at that stage where you just feel tired out, but alas it's way too early to even consider actually getting into your bed. You've mulled many, many ideas to entertain you over in your mind, but literally nothing is holding your attention.

Mostly, you're just feeling a little trapped inside your house because you want to go outside and do something, but stuff costs money and you have none because it's only a couple of weeks until Christmas and until after it's happened, you have no money. 

What can you say, you're way too generous for your own good. You're regretting that to the maximum now. 

And okay, it's super pathetic and hell, you yourself know just how pathetic you are, but you're sure that one of the reasons for your boredom and accompanying terrible mood is that you've come way, way too accustomed to having your boyfriend around whenever you might need him. You're bored? If you text him he'll be right over and if he can't then he'll at least have a million and one ideas for what you can do to entertain yourself. Or if you just want to talk, then if he's not busy the two of you can lose literal hours talking about everything, yet nothing. 

And sometimes, when you haven't seen each other for a couple of days due to school work, or family and other friends sucking up all your time, he has a habit of treating your phone as if it's his own personal twitter account and pretty much starts blowing it up constantly with texts to let you know what he's doing. And he calls, of course he calls you at least once a day. And yeah, there have been times when you've felt the texting could get pretty annoying after a while, but it always signalled that he was there for you.

And now? Now you regret ever finding it annoying, because at least he was there to distract you, to remind you that someone cared when you needed it. It hasn't happened in a while, because about three weeks ago things went from the way they'd always been to Marco... falling off the end of the Earth. 

Plans had started being cancelled last minute, the phone calls all but stopped, closely followed by the texts and it was completely and utterly jarring to have someone you care about so much always be there, to just suddenly disappear. Obviously t5he two of you were still in contact but like... really minimal contact. Eight out of ten times when you managed to actually make contact, his phone would be switched off, or he'd suddenly have to get off the phone because he was so busy after all of two minutes.

Sure, when you spoke he did apologise about how busy he was and he still did text you... every so often to tell you that he missed you and that you had to hang out soon, but soon never came and neither did replies to those texts after you replied to them, he was 'busy' after all. Though he wouldn't tell you what with and you'd all about given up now to due to the amount of avoidance that happened with the subject.

You haven't been able to keep the thoughts out of your head that perhaps, that maybe, just maybe this is Marco's way of attempting to ease himself out of your life so that he can break up with you. But then the occasional apology text appears and it's always signed with 'I love you' and when the ever more rare speaking to him happens he's just the same old loving, goofy Marco that you've always known and it's as if he knows what you've been thinking, because he makes a big deal about of how sorry he is and how much he loves you.

And you feel like you should probably try and be more supportive and understanding about whatever is actually going on, but it's so frustrating and the whole situation got really old, really freaking quickly and it would be easier if he just gave you an explanation. 

And ugh, even thinking about the whole stupid thing has made you feel awful again and with a heavy heart you can't help but pick up your phone for what has to have been the hundredth time in the four hours since you called Marco, just to double check, but no... of course there's no reply, no text, no voicemail, no anything. 

After Christmas you really need to pin him down for a serious talk, because you're not sure how much more of this you can take. 

You haul yourself up off the bed and head downstairs, perhaps some TV or something will distract you from this boredom and from these awful thoughts circling around in your head. Those as usual, when you get to the lounge, throw your phone down on the seat next to you and snuggle into the cushions there's nothing on the billion and one channels you have, aside from a Keeping Up with the Kardashian's marathon on E! And you're not sure how much of that you can stomach right now. 

Just as you're about to flip to another channel though, your phone vibrates on the cushion next to you. You glance at it, considering not picking it up because it's most likely just Eren or Sasha or Christa, or maybe if you're really lucky your technologically challenged friend Ymir might be making another attempt at texting. Of course you end up picking it up though, just to check.

And for once, it actually is Marco. “Hey! :3” it reads. “Sorry today was really busy :( And now I have to go out for dinner with the fam, but I'll call in the morning? ILYx”

Busy.

Again.

Well, colour you surprised. 

And you for sure won't be holding your breath for the phone call in the morning. You don't reply, just turn back to the Kardashian's and really, really hope that this is one of those episodes where Kim makes her crying face. You could certainly use a laugh right now. 

 

~*~*~*~

Though at just past 10AM the next morning, your phone actually rings and to say it's a surprise is an understatement, especially when Marco stays on the phone for longer than ten minutes (almost a whole hour, actually!) and it's pretty great, just like it was a mere few weeks ago actually, with the two of you laughing and joking together. Hearing his voice that much after so long is a definite comfort to the horrible way you've been feeling lately.

And you make plans!! To go out in a couple of days to the movies!! Because he misses you!! And that, well that makes you feel happier and more comfortable than anything.

Your happiness lasts five minutes after making those plans, he gets to the middle of a story about some guy he knows who you've never heard him mention before (and seriously, what kind of name is 'Pixis'???) when he suddenly gasps, then mutters a curse (??? your boyfriend rarely curses what's going on?) and garbles out; “Is that the time?! I'm so sorry ___, but I really have to go, I have so much to do today, so I'll call you back later.” 

Stuff. Again. You close your eyes, take in a deep breath and speak. “Stuff, again? You always have stuff to do lately, see if I was more suspicious then I'd think you were doing something you don't want me to know about...” 

And he falls silent for longer than is comfortable and then laughs. Only, it's not his laugh, it's the fakest laugh you've ever heard come out of another human being. “Don't be ridiculous, it's just a busy time of year! Really do have to go though, bye.” And he hangs up on you before you even get the chance to say goodbye back to him. 

It's safe to say that if you weren't suspicious before, you more certainly are now.

That boy is keeping something from you. But what? 

~*~*~*~

So hey, you were so panicked when you woke up this morning because you woke up way later than you'd wanted to and you were supposed to be going to the movies with Marco today, just the way you used to.

Emphasis on supposed to. Because when you had woken up, seen the time on your clock and cursed to yourself, you'd picked up your phone to check for any notifications you'd gotten overnight the top two things on display were a missed call from Marco's number and a text, which of course you already knew the contents of before you opened it.

“I'm sorry :(. Stuff came up and I can't make it today, I'll make it up to you though, promise! <3”

So here you are now, lying on your bed again trying to piece together what the hell could be going on in your head. The most obvious idea is that he's cheating on you, but your boyfriend isn't slick enough to get away with that and he's probably the least likeliest to out of the people you know, so it's definitely something else, but what? You don't think you'll be able to hold off the conversation until after Christmas though, you need to know what's going on now. 

As if she senses that you're feeling down and wondering if things are going to get any worse today, you hear the bang of your bedroom door opening and the sound of your Mom's sarcastic voice from somewhere behind you. “What're you doing in here, dying?” 

You decide that you're not going to dignify her with a response so instead you muster the strength to look up and glare at her, then bury your face back into the pillow. It makes her laugh. You're so glad that your pain is hilarious to her. 

“Well, I'm sorry to disturb you when you're so busy lying around, but I came in to ask if you wanted to earn some money. But because it seems like you've got a lot of plans for today, then I guess not.” 

Money.

If you have money then you can leave the house to do something other than walk around. You can get the bus into town and window shop, or hell even buy something. Or you can go over to a friends and bother them with your problems. Huh. You pull yourself up into a sitting position and face her. “...I'm listening.”

Your Mom grins. Whatever it is she's going to ask you to do to earn this money can't be good. “Well, your sister just called because she's been offered an extra shift today.” Oh no. You can already see where this is going and you really don't like it. “So I agreed to take the kiddo for a while so she can take it, because nobody else can.” Oh no.

The Kiddo, as she's affectionately known in your household is your niece. You do love her, you really do because she's family and you have to and when she's asleep she's really cute and adorable and sometimes when you're in the right kind of mood she's downright wonderful. But today is not one of those days, you're not in one of those moods and the last thing you want to deal with is a hyperactive child who has no indoor voice. No money in the world is worth spending an entire day with her when you're this grouchy. You'd rather stick to letting your Mom take care of her and sending her up to you for a cuddle on your lap when she's sleepy before you hand her back to your self to deal with when she wakes up. Because this close to Christmas? She's gonna be ten times worse than usual. 

“Because you really don't spend enough time with her,” oh great, she's still talking. “I thought maybe you'd like to take her out for a while so I can get some work done myself.” 

Aha, an exit. “Oh gee,” you mutter. “I'd love to, but I can't because as you know I'm poor and obviously I can't expect you to pay me before I've done the job so I'll have to pass, maybe after Christmas when I might have more money.” 

There's a flash of irritation in her eyes. “Gee?” She repeats back at you in disgust and you guess she does have a point, because who says 'gee'. “You wouldn't be 'poor' if you'd actually gotten that seasonal job you talked about, instead of spending all of your break lying around in bed sulking” Of course she'd remember that, you'd only said that once in passing because you wanted to go out with Christa and Sasha and she'd called you irresponsible for trying to leave the house when you should have been studying for finals. You didn't realize she was going to cling onto it the way she has. “I wouldn't mind so much you were actually studying for your next semester, but have you even opened those books once?” You open your mouth to defend yourself and point out how much hell the last few weeks of your classes on top of your boyfriend going all absent without leave had been and how you deserved a break, but with a wave of her hand she dismisses you before any words get out. “I'll pay for the train fare.”

...Train... Fare? Where the hell is she expecting you to take The Kiddo?? You'd envisioned going into town to see that new Disney movie (that you'd inevitably spend all of shushing her), possibly followed by a quick Happy Meal in McDonalds (where you'd inevitably end up telling her to shut up and not talk with her mouth full) before dumping her back on your mother. A two hour round trip, taking her somewhere further than a ten minute bus trip had definitely not crossed your mind.

“Roses, obviously.” She retorts, frustration evident in her voice. You frown though, you don't know anyone called Rose and you don't think she does either. I mean, her Grandma might have been but she's been dead for years. 

And then it hits you and oh God, no.

Roses is a department store in Jinae, a town about forty-ish minutes away from where you live. You'd been there a handful of times over the last couple of years and you do like going, but usually it's with Marco's family, because a lot of their relatives including both sets of Grandparents, who you love and love visiting lives there. Roses is probably your least favourite part of Jinae and you'd figured that after your sister had found out where all those Christmas presents actually came from and taken it upon herself to tell you too (you'd never forgiven her for that to be honest) you'd never have to go again.

Roses, for ten and a half months out of the year, is the type of place that likes to keep people like you from entering it's doors with it's ridiculous pricing, their customer base is people who have far, far too much money and don't know what to do with it, so they spend it on expensive shit they don't need. They do, however, go all out for Christmas when each of their windows is turned into a different display celebrating various aspects of the season, they have an insane amount of flashing lights and tacky figures and it's always at it's busiest because people travel from all around the country to go gaze at their displays, but also because inside they have a beautifully decorated grotto where all the little kids can go and scream and cry and visit Santa. 

You would, quite honestly rather stick needles in your eyeballs than have to stand around that place with all those kids and the ultra perky staff for longer than five minutes. And because it's so close to Christmas, you already know that you're looking at probably five hours queueing, plus the train and bus rides there and back. 

No amount of money is worth that. “No way.” You shake your head. “I'll never be that desperate for money.”

Your Mom simply smiles. “Yes way,” she mocks. “You see, when you start paying for your food and shelter and everything else you can turn down favours I ask of you. Today's not that day though, is it? So get dressed, she's waiting for you downstairs.” And as if on cue, you hear a shrill, little voice calling your name up the stairs. “Oh, sounds like she's getting impatient. You might want to hurry it up.” 

~*~*~*~

In your head you're preparing a speech to end all speeches, the one that you're going to use to convince your friends that you need to find an apartment together, you'll drop out of school and take on the worst job you can find that pays you enough for rent and ramen, just so you can move out of your parents house and never, ever, ever have your Mom make you do something like this again.

Because today... well, today you've learnt that Hell is a real place and you're in it and you'd really rather like to get out of it thanks. The train ride and walk here weren't that bad, you survived listening to The Kiddo tell you non-stop about how excited she was and you even made it to the department store with no mishaps, only to be confronted by humanity's longest queue. 

And it's hour two. Hour two of waiting in it, surrounded by the whiniest, loudest, brattiest children ever. Sure, they're excited to be here and excited to see the 'real' Santa in the flesh, but can't the people who birthed them control them, other than shushing them once and then giving up? And also, can they please get them to stop peeing themselves too? Because three kids near you have done it and they've been wailing ever since and hell, you're pretty sure that some of the other parents would be more than happy to hold their place in line so that they and their parents can go empty their bladders without some poor bastard who's been forced to dress up as an elf having to mop it up and console them. 

Thing is, no matter how much you want to just up and leave and go get the train home, you can't do it because you could never do that to your niece. The Kiddo isn't exactly whining along with the other kids but you know she's far from as excited as she once was. Her overexcited babbling has quietened down considerably and she's stood, leaning against you, one hand curled up with her thumb in her mouth and the other clutching onto yours. She stops sucking every so often to look up at you with half-open, sleepy eyes and ask. “Are we almost there yet?” 

And you guess you are now, you've probably still got a while to wait (ground swallow you up please), but the front of the queue is sort of in sight and you can at least see the little grotto set up now, people with green tights and red painted cheeks and stupid hats wondering around it, talking to the kids. And man, that really does have to be the most embarrassing job ever, do these people not have friends because if yours found out you'd gotten a job like that they'd never let you live it down. Especially Marco's dumb best friend Jean, Jean would try and find some way to work it into every fuckin' conversation for the rest of time. Hell, if you and Marco ended up staying together for the long haul, it'd be Jean's first line in his best man speech. 

You shudder at the thought. 

There's a tug on your hand and you look down at your niece, she's looking up at you again and you just want to pick her up and cuddle her because she looks so exhausted and just... done. You're ready to reassure her that yes, you'll be there soon, you promise, but when she speaks, thumb still in her mouth she doesn't ask. Instead, the only words from her garbled speech you catch are 'Marco' and 'Santa'. You know she's a big fan of Marco, so she's probably wondering why he's not here with you (and to be honest, she'll probably be a lot more understanding about 'busy with stuff' then you have been). 

“Take your thumb out sweets,” You tell her and gently tug her little hand away from her mouth. “So I can understand you.” 

She looks up again, pausing only to wipe her spit covered hand on your jacket (how kind of her). “Santa's elf looks like Marco!” There's excitement in her eyes again. 

You frown at her, following her gaze to the front of the line that you are getting ever closer to and your eyes lock with one of the elves. His hair is dark and he's wearing some hideous green outfit, including striped tights, with two circles of red painted on his cheeks, a jaunty, striped hat sits atop his head.

And unlike the rest of the cheerful elves milling around, chatting to children, he just looks like he wants something to bring his death quickly. 

Yeah, you're rather well acquainted with those freckled cheeks and there's no denying it, Santa's elf doesn't just look like your boyfriend.

It is your boyfriend. 

“Yeah,” you bite down on the inside of your cheek to stop from laughing. This has what he's been doing?? Really?? Suddenly busy with stuff makes a world of sense because you wouldn't admit to doing these either. He could have just told you that he'd gotten a seasonal job and left it at that. Your hand fishes in your pocket for your phone. “He really does, doesn't he?” You aim and snap, your not going to show anyone else but this is too priceless and damn right adorable to not. “I took a picture of him, I'll show Marco his elven twin next time I see him.” She doesn't reply though, just tugs on your hand to let you know you're moving further forward. She's practically skipping, the moving closer seems to have made her full of piss and vinegar again, so when you get to look away from her and back in the direction Marco was stood, you find him gone. 

And as annoyed as you have been, today really hasn't been that bad because it looks like you've discovered the secret that boyfriend of yours has been hiding (but really Marco, an elf??) and your niece is now bouncing on the spot in such excitement because a cat-faced blond elf has knelt down in front of her asking her if she's excited to see Santa, her happiness gives you a sudden rush of affection towards the little girl. She may be a pain in the ass when she wants to be, but she's your pain in the ass and ultimately? You're glad you're the one who's getting to experience her seeing this (there's no way in hell you're admitting that to your dumb mother though.

Soon enough the curtain hiding Santa from the other kids is tugged forward and an elf with a bowl cut sticks their head out and nods to the cat-faced girl talking to The Kiddo. And it's time and she skips behind the curtain, pulling you behind her and you watch the excitement and awe on her tiny face as you watch her sit on the lap of the elderly man with the flushed cheeks. 

After this maybe you will stop at McDonalds, so you can sit down and text Elf Boy to let him know he's kind of adorable. 

And that you love him.

Even if he is a lying liar who keeps secrets. 

~*~*~*~

Two hours later leads you back to the train station after a stop from food and a wonder around central Jinae. You got here a good few minutes before the trains due to leave so while it's yet so it's given you plenty of time to text your Mom and let her know you're on your way back (and send her the picture of the niece with Santa) and get The Kiddo herself settled down in her seat, where she's more lying than sitting, clutching the colouring book she got from Santa and covered over by your jacket. She's so wiped out, it'll be a miracle if you can wake her when you getting into your train station. 

You stretch out, yawning, a wave of fatigue hitting you after the excitement and busy-ness of the day. You wish that this was a train where your station was the last stop so you could close your eyes for a a bit too, but you don't want to risk it especially when you need your wits about you to carry the sleeping child off when you finally do get home. 

The train doors beep, indicating that you're getting ready to leave, you hear a thump (probably someone just making it before the doors shut properly), some more beeping and the train starts moving. 

You yawn again, looking up at the board displaying all the stops you're gonna make just above the door to your carriage, you're counting them when it opens and you half look down not paying too much attention to who's coming in.

That is, until you realize you recognize the freckled cheeks, the ones that flush with embarrassment when his eyes meet yours.

Well. Marco's done with work.

He swallows and makes his way towards you, looking down at your sleeping niece. You take it as a hint to scoop her up (she only briefly stirs before settling down against your chest) and pull her into your arms so he can sit down. 

He sits down next to you, wordlessly and when you glance up at him he's fishing his phone out of his pocket. From his general body language, you can tell that he obviously doesn't feel like talking to you right now, so you look away, shifting The Kiddo on your lap, you look out the window. He must switch his phone on, because the quick succession of beeps lets you know that he got all of the text messages you'd kindly sent him from McDonalds. They're all quotes from Buddy the Elf. 

You can't help but watch him out of the corner of your eye and bite down on your lip to stop the smirk that is oh so desperate to form on your face. He looks pretty exasperated and he turns to you, catching you watching him.

“You're a pain,” he tells you. “Did IMDB run out of quotes in the end or what?” 

“Something like that,” you reply, grin still fixed to your face. “It's all good fun though.” 

He doesn't quite look like he agrees, looking away from you and down at your peaceful sleeping niece. “Did she have fun?” He asks.

“She had tons of fun,” you tell him. “I've never seen her so excited, plus she spotted you and she got really excited that there was an elf that looked like you. She really loves you.” 

A small smile curves on his lips. “I love her too, when she's not being a pain.” He paused. “Well, I guess we know who she takes after because I can think of someone else I'm rather fond of who has a habit of being a pain.” 

“Only fond of?” You retort.

He pulls a face. “Fine, I love them.” You smile back at him and the silence falls between the pair of you again, more companionable than awkward this time. You wonder if you should try and open a dialogue about the whole thing to get some answers, but before you get a chance to speak, he does. “I'm... sorry I didn't tell you.” 

You know you should be nice and you should tell him that it's fine and you ultimately understand, but you don't. Instead what comes out of your mouth is; “Why didn't you?”

“I was embarrassed,” he says, honestly. “And I... kind of knew you'd do something like that,” he motions at his phone. Obviously, he's not wrong. “My Grandma got me the job and I really needed the money so...”

Yeah, you get it. Marco always needs money because he's like, the one person you know who still insists on buying his text books instead of finding them online. “I wish you'd told me though, you had me worried.” 

“Why?”

“Well because how was I supposed to know what was going on? It kind of seemed like you were being real hot and cold with me. One minute you'd completely vanished and the next it's like oh hey I love you and I miss you but I have no time for you and I'm not gonna explain why.” You tell him quietly. “And... sometimes it made me wonder if you were trying to maybe break up with me.” 

He frowns. “Really? Because I thought you knew by now that that isn't likely to happen this century.” He pauses. “You mad at me?”

You shake your head. “No. I was never mad, just worried.” 

“I'm sorry.” He says. “I didn't realize that it was going to throw you off so much, but you understand why I didn't tell you right?” 

You nod.

“I'm done the day before Christmas Eve. And after that I'm all yours until exam time and then after that I'm all yours again until...” 

You laugh. “I get it, just... don't do it again, okay? Or at least find a better explanation than 'I'm busy with stuff', like even if you don't want to let me know at least give me some idea at what's going on.” 

He nods and yawns. “We good?”

“We good.” 

“I'm glad.” Another yawn. Christ, he must be exhausted. “Oh hey, one thing though?”

“Hmmm...”

“Can we maybe, you know... not tell Jean or the others about this?”

“Oh God,” you laugh. “Jean can never find out about this.”

Marco opens his mouth, you guess to agree with it because the thought of Jean having that much power and that kind of information is terrifying, but your phone vibrates and you have to fish it out and answer it. It's your Mom, double checking that you're on your way home and by the way did you feed The Kiddo because your sister will kill me and then you if you didn't. Midway through the assurances that you're almost home and hey she could always come pick you up from the station if she's that worried instead of leaving you to get the bus and hey by the way Marco is with you and can you maybe drop him off home too? Cool thanks. You feel Marco's head drop down onto your shoulder, you presume his being affectionate because he doesn't have to walk home, but when you turn to him you find out he's fallen asleep. And then you feel quite bad for how harsh you've been on him lately because it's seriously clear now how much this is exhausting him. 

So you don't push his head off, you let him stay there.

It's nice having him so close again. 

~*~*~*~

You're standing in front of the mirror in your room, checking your hair as you get ready to go out. It's Christmas Eve now and things have gotten a lot better than they were the day you took your niece to Roses. Sure, Marco's been as busy as he was but at least now you understand why. And the phone calls and texts have been sparse, but the words 'busy' and 'stuff' have been replaced with 'extra shift' and 'work'. You're a lot more understanding about it now, your messages and voicemails have turned from frustration at not hearing from him to make sure he's eating properly and getting some sleep, as well as pointing out that his vocabulary does contain the word 'no' and he should learn how to use it.

And of course, the occasional quote from Elf has been thrown in here and there. You are, afterall, only human. 

You've kept your promise though – this stuff has stayed between the two of you and you haven't breathed a word about what he's been doing to Jean, or anyone else. 

Thankfully, yesterday was his last day and the two of you are going out tonight, just a casual fleeting visit to visit some friends, before heading back home to help get The Kiddo to bed (she, your sister and her husband are spending the night) with the whole gin and mince pie and carrot thing, or whatever it is the kids these days are doing (which seems to have changed a lot since you believed if whatever it is your sisters been doing this year with a hideous elf is anything to go by). You suppose you're somewhat happy to get to see your niece so excited though. 

You're drawn out from being stuck in the own world that is your thoughts by a knock on the door. “Yeah?” You call out, expecting your mother to pop her head round the door and complain that you're not spending time downstairs with the family. She doesn't though, Marco does. You're surprised to see him so early, because as far as you know he's been asleep all day. 

“Hey,” he grins. You can't help but smile at the sight of him, he looks a lot more well-rested than he did on the train back from Jinae the other day. Seeing him so tired and overworked wasn't the greatest. “I'm a bit early, I know.”

“It's okay, only like fifteen minutes and I'm ready anyway. Christa won't care if we're early anyways, the quicker we go the quicker we can leave.” You cross the room and pull him into a hug, which he happily allows and you're pretty sure that he holds on your way, way longer than was necessary. Not that you're complaining. 

“Actually,” he mumbles, pressing kisses into the top of your head before letting you go. “I've been here for about forty-five minutes already, your family kinda... dragged me into the living room with them. Your Mom said she was worried because she hadn't seen me for a while so she made me eat mince pies with her,” he rubs the back of his neck nervously. “And uh, The Kiddo wanted to show me her new dress and tell me all about the elf she saw who looked like me.”

You can't help but laugh. “Sorry about that, you could have told them to shoo though.” 

He shakes his head. “It's cool, I like your family.”

“Someone has to, I suppose.” You pull a face. “You wanna head out then?” You turn away from him looking for what corner you tossed your jacket in, but before you can move to get it, Marco's pulled you back into his arms, hugging you and pressing his face into the top of your head again.

“Missed you,” he mutters.

“Missed you too,” you tell him as he pulls away again to fish in his pocket and presents you with a slim box, tied by a bow. You take it from him. “What's this?” 

“Your Christmas present, open it.” 

“Oh, thanks.” You smile. “Hang on, I left yours under the tree I'll go and...” but Marco cuts you off with a shake of the head.

“Just open it? Please?”

You tug on the ribbon and slide the box open, revealing a necklace inside. You bit down on your lip, overwhelmed with emotion at seeing it. You know this necklace, it's been in the window of the jewellery shop in town that you often end up waiting outside of when you're meeting Marco. You've been admiring it for quite some time, but you weren't ware that he'd noticed. You were well aware, however, that it was kind of hideous expensive. “Marco... I... This is too much.”

He ignores you. “That's the right one, right?” He asks, nervousness in his voice.

“Yes,” you say firmly. “But like I said it's too much and I didn't know you...” 

He shrugs, cutting you off again. He is not gonna let you tell him that this is 'too much'. “I'm an attentive boyfriend.” He pauses. “...When I'm not hiding a stupid job from you.” 

“But really, you shouldn't have.” Wow ____, hella cliché, there. 

“You liked it.” He tells you. “And I wanted to get it for you.” 

You wrap your arms around him. “Thank you so much, you're the best when you're not trying to hide your stupid job from me.” 

He laughs before kissing you. “Have I mentioned I love you lately?” 

“Not for a while,” you tease. “I love you too.”

And then as Marco pulls the necklace from the box and slips it around your neck, so he can do it up for you – something hits you. He told you that he took the job as an elf because he 'needed the money', this isn't what he needed the money for was it? Because if so, wow you are not worth that embarrassment?? You don't know whether to strangle him for putting you through those sucky weeks, or love him because he's thoughtful and ridiculous and you love him so very much. 

You pull him in for another kiss. 

You guess you'll settle for loving him.


End file.
